Pleasing God, A Reflection for the Second Sunday Of Lent

Pleasing God by the way we live
Second Sunday of Lent Reflection
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry

The readings for the second Sunday of lent have two important messages for us to contemplate. The first is from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7) and it is one that many who make judgments against people of the GLBT community use to condemn them. The use Paul’s words; . “It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality” as if they outlaw sexual activity completely but if you read them carefully you will notice Paul says “avoid sexual immorality” and in that phrase is the complicating factor. Exactly what is sexual immorality? In the next few lines Paul provides the answer and fully explains what he is referring to; “that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.”.
Paul tells us that we need to control our urges, we need to have respect for our own bodies as well as those of others. We should resist the urge to have sexual encounters for the sole purpose of the pleasure we obtain like the heathens who considered some people to be their property and therefore could be used and abused as they whished because they did not know or respect God and therefore God’s children which includes every living human being on the planet. Since we, as humans, are made in the image and likeness of God our bodies are, as Paul explains in the passage, “Holy and honorable”. Paul further tells us that we should never wrong our brothers and sisters in Christ or take advantage of them. I wonder how those who abused children and those who rape individuals can justify their actions, especially those who took vows to serve God as His representative here on earth and live lives of chastity and obedience to God’s will.
The bottom line for us in this particular lesson from scripture is that we need to use the gift of sex in a manner that is consistent with the designs of Almighty God, as an expression of committed love for our chosen partner and that we need to respect that partner and always treat them as an equal.
The second reading is from Matthew 17: 1-9 and is the telling of Our Blessed Lords transfiguration. “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead”
I believe that the most important part of this teaching is found in these words; "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" “Listen to Him” Throughout all of the New Testament Scriptures we have the words spoken by Christ recorded, in some Bibles the words which are ascribed to Christ are printed in a contrasting color to set them aside from the words of the story being told by the author. Some of the words are those which should give us comfort like, “Your faith has saved you”, which means we need to believe and trust in God. How about “Let those without sin cast the first stone”? Here Christ is clearly indicating that there is not one person on the face of this earth who is without sin and therefore not one person who is in a position to cast judgment on another. So where do all those self righteous people who condemn people for being divorced or being created by God with a same sex orientation get their right to judge?
There are norms of decency and there are proper ways for people to live their live and those have also been told to us in Jesus own words. Christ summed up everything when he was asked what the greatest commandments were and He responded “ Love the Lord, your God, with your whole hear, mind, soul and body and the second is like unto it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself” In the sermon on the mount and the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus instructed us as to how we love our neighbor.
One of the exercises I like to do is to go through the New Testament and every time I come across something the is referred as the words spoken by Christ, I highlight them. I think that if we believe in Christ, and Almighty God then we need to take the words spoken by God at the transfiguration "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" and seek out exactly what Christ had to tell us and then go forth and attempt ,with the best of our human ability, to live in that way.
Let us remember the promise made by Christ found in John 5: 22-24 The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, it is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.”
Let us give glory, honor and praise to Almighty God by living our lives in a decent and respectful way every day. Let us have respect for our own bodies and those of all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us respect the rights of every human being to have freedom, justice and equality. Let us respect the life God gives us and all humans. Let us not treat others in any way that we ourselves would not want to be treated. Let us not deny any person the right to share their love for another in a committed relationship. Let us respect the rights of individuals to own property and not go about envying them that right or taking it away from them. Let us make a concerted effort, beginning today, to live our life in such a way that we give testimony to all that we encounter every day are followers of Jesus Christ and love the Lord, Our God, with our whole hearts, minds, bodies and souls. This would truly be a wonderful way to actively participate in the Paschal mystery and the Glory of Easter.
Amen

Something To Meditate Over

cSomething to think about during this Lent
A Reflection by Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.MissionStSergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry
Taken from Daniel 3: 26-90
(This passage is missing from most Translations of the Bible, Possibly because it is considered a Psalm/Prayer. They are translated from the Greek form of the Book of Daniel and originally were composed in Hebrew or Aramaic and few original transcripts are available.)

During this Lenten season I would like to put forth this reading from the Book of Daniel, which I think might be worth reflecting over as we look into our hearts and souls in order to find ways to bring ourselves closer to Almighty God. In these days of unrest and turmoil in the world it can provide us with a focus point to think about as we go about our daily lives and Lenten preparation.
Some consider this passage as a prophetic warning for our current time in history. Some consider the reading to be just another bible story to let us know how merciful Almighty God is to those who trust in Him. What ever your take on the readings is, it is an excellent source of meditation for us during Lent.
The similarities to what is happening in the Middle East and what happened in the time of Daniel are very similar considering where things are happening. (The king of Babylon which was in Persia and is now the countries of Iran, Iraq , Syria)
The passage begins with:
“O Lord, the God of our fathers, blessed are you and praiseworthy and glorious forever is your name.” The first thing being doing here is acknowledging that God is first and foremost, worthy of our acknowledging Him as we begin and end each day.
For you are just in all you have done, all your deeds are faultless, all your ways right and your judgments proper. This passage lets God know that we accept all his actions from the creation of the earth to the judgments imposed upon us and difficulties that we have to endure.
“You have executed proper judgments in all you have brought upon us and upon Jerusalem ( often thought to represent the kingdom of God the entire world) , the Holy City of our Fathers. By a proper judgment you have done all this because of our sins.”Here we affirm to God that we recognize that we are sinners and often times fail to live according to God’s will. “For we have sinned and transgressed by departing from you and we have done every kind of evil. Your commandments and teachings we have not heeded or observed nor have you done as you ordered us to do for our own good. You have handed us over to our enemies who are lawless and hateful rebels. You have given us over to an unjust king, the worst in all the world.”This is the part which could be considered prophetic. Even though this prayer was said by Daniel’s companions Shadrach, Meshach, Azariah, and Abednego while imprisoned by King Nebuchadnezzar .
They began with a plea to Almighty God, a plea that possibly we need to begin to ask God to bring about in this time. “For your names sake, do not deliver us up forever or make void your promise. Do not take away your mercy from us. Receive us with a contrite heart and humble spirit. Those who trust in you cannot be put to shame and so we follow you with our whole heart and fear you and pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame but deal with us in your unending kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders and bring glory to your name O Lord. Let all know that you alone are the Lord God, glorious over all the world.”The passage then goes on to tell how they were thrown into the furnace and how the flames rose forty nine cubits (1078 inches) above the furnace ( ( one cubit is about 22 inches) but an angel of the Lord came down and made the flames cool and the three were not harmed.
When considering the possibility of this passage as being prophetic to today, the flames could well represent the fire being cast down in the form if rockets upon the people of Israel and of Lebanon and Gaza and the firearms and weapons being used against innocent children and our own sons and daughters.
I suggest that possibly we might want to consider praying the prayer of the three young men when cast into the furnace. “Almighty and Merciful God, For your names sake, do not deliver us up forever or make void your promise to our Fathers. Do not take away your mercy from us. Receive us with a contrite heart and humble spirit. Those who trust in you cannot be put to shame and so we follow you with our whole heart and fear you and pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame but deal with us in your unending kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders and bring glory to your name O Lord. Let all know that you alone are the Lord God, glorious over all the world. AMEN”Upon being delivered they then began to praise God with a prayer that all priests and religious who pray the Liturgy of the Hours proclaim which begins thus; “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”The prayer then continues giving praise for all things that exist individually followed by “praiseworthy and exalted above all forever”
How often do we acknowledge all that God has created? How often do we take the time to thank God for all He has given us? How often do we appreciate the gifts God has bestowed upon us and not just turn to Him when we are seeking something? God does indeed hear all our prayers, requests, petitions and does answer them, but He does so in His time and with what He thinks will be best for us.
Let us contemplate on this and let us examine our relationship with Him on a daily basis not only during this Lenten season but every day of the year.
Where do we need to make changes in our lives in order to strengthen our relationship with God? Do we need to become more trusting of His will and not always ask Him to bend to our will?
I leave the answers to these questions to you and God for I am not the one to make that judgement.
I pray that Almighty God, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit will inspire us and lead each of us into a closer and more trusting relationship with Almighty God.
The following The Canticle of Creatures by Saint Francis seems to be a shortened version of the prayer found in Daniel 3: 52-90 and might serve as one of your daily prayers.
The Canticle of Creatures
By Saint Francis

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness or You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for your Love, and bear infirmity and tribulation. Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility. AMEN